Player grand piano



mg.v 19 ,l 1924. 1,505,161

' M. NICKELS PLAYER GRAND PIANO Original Filed Max,Y 5. 1921 atto: ne q Patented Ang, 19, 1924e yUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN NCKELS, OF NEX?? N. TF,

WELTE-MIGNQN CGEORTENJ OF NEW YOF YORK,

fit-'SSA BY ASSIGNMENTS, TO Tl. 71.7., A 001133303@ TION OF NEW PLAYER GRAND IPT fs NQ.

Application filed May 5, 351211., Serial. No4 457,180. Renewed January 14, .1.924.

To all whom t may. concern:

Be. it known that l, MARTIN Nionnns, a citizen of the United States, residingat New York city, inthe county of Broni: and State of `New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsy in Player Grand Pianos, of whichA the following is a specification.

This invention has especial reference to certain improvements in mechanisms for operating the hammers,l dampers and back checks of grand pianos either by manual manipulation of the keys of the piano or under control of a record, at will, and it consists in novel combinations and correlations of elements substantially as hereinafter described and particularly set forth in the appended claims.

One of the most important purposes of this invention is to provide a simple and practicable combination and arrangement of parts which will enable the power pneumatics which actuate the piano action under controlof record to be arranged rearward of the key bed of the piano and substantially within. the contines of a grand piano case of standard size.

Other important purposes will be apparent to those skilled in the art and well informed regarding the present invention.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing` which is a section taken vertically through a partof the piano on a plane adjacent to one of the keys and shows said key and the corresponding part of the piano action and the corresponding; power pneumatic in elevation, additional power pneu. matics being shown in dotted outline to illustrate a desirable arrangement of adjacent pneumatics.

It is considered to be suiiicient to illustrate and describe only one of the keys, piano strings and the particular unit of the piano action and power pneumatic correspendingthereto, it being well understood that the practical embodiment will or need involve only a duplication of the parts illustrated. Moreover, it is considered to be unnecessary to illustrate or describe any part of the player action for operating the piano action under control of a record, except the power pneumatic as the construction and operation of such actions are well known and form no part of the present invention.

it, designates a piano key, pivoted between its ends to swing about its center pin a, and provided with. an element as the sticker1 o" which is lined to it at a place rearward of its pivot and rises from its upper surface. B designates a power pneumatic, here shown as arbellows whose movable board b is provided with an element o to transmit power therefrom, but which may be of any kind capable of being actuated under control of a perforated note sheet or other suitable record (not shown) and of applying` power to actuate the corresponding elements of the piano action.

The action includes a hammer C, a damper D and a back check E. The hammer and damper act upon the corresponding piano string F as usual. The hammer C is carried as usual by pivoted hammer shank o supported by a suitable fixed part o of the piano. The stringI F is connected as usual to tuning; .pin o mounted upon a piano pin block G of the usual. or any suitable construction.

Further, the action includes two members H and I pivoted at 71` and respectively to suitable tixed parts H and l of the piano structure and arranged to be engaged by the elements at" and 7) respectively, whereby power derived from the key A. is applied directly to the member H and power derived from the pneumatic B is applied directly to the member I, and the action also essentially includes appropriate connections whereby power applied to either of these two members is transmitted to and actuates the other and also is transn'iitted to and actuates the back check E and damper D.

As here embodied` the member H is a wippen provided with a depending` nose It to ene'age the upper end of the member o and the member I is a back check carrying' lever connected to the wippen by a. link ,l and arranged in such relation to a damper lifter K that. it serves when raised to actuate said lifter and thereby raise the damper D, the. lifter being pivoted at 7'1 to a suitable fixed part K of the piano structure and connected to 'the damper by a reciprocating damper rod d movable in yguide d and pivoted to vsaid lifter at d, The back checkeef E is secured to the carrying lever I in any suitable. way. A rail H suitably fixed in position carries an adjustable stop to limit the upward movement of the back check carrying lever and back check. The illustrated connections between the wippen and the hammer shank c comprise the usual repetition lever L, fly M, escapement lever N and regulating elements O, P and need no further description.

It will be apparent that when the front end of the piano key A is depressed the rear end thereof will rise and swing the wippen Il on its pivot 7i, thereby causing the hammer C to strike the string E, the wippen also raising the rear end of a back check carrying lever I with its back check E; and causing the latter to actuate the damper lifter K to raise the damper D at the same time the string E is struck by the hammer C.

It will further be apparent that when the piano is being played under control of a record, the collapsing of the power pneumatic B will apply power directly to the back check carrying' lever I causing the rear end of the latter to rise with its back check E and transmit, through the link J and damper lifter It. power to raise the wippen H and damper D, the raising of the wippen causing the hammer to be actuated as before. It will be noted that the back check carrying lever is not only pivoted so as to swing independently of the key, but moreover is so arranged with relation to the key and wippen that it does not serve as an element through which power is transmitted from the key to the wippen when the piano is being played manually, the power in manual playing being transmitted from the key to the wippen through the element a fixed to the key and projecting upward therefrom. The connection between the member a. of the key and the nose h of the wippen is preferably a contacting one only, in order that the key may remain stationary when the piano is being played under control of a record. In practice, however, the portions of the key in advance of its pivot may be of greater weight than the portion thereof rearward of the pivot, is customary, in which event the key will move when the instrument is played by a record, but such movement will be caused by gravity as will be apparent. Further` it will be noted that the back check carrying lever, is -not only pivoted to a support which is independent of the key A but is disposed with relation to the key that it may be engaged as already stated, by a pneumatic element b extending rom a pneumatic B arranged rearward of the key bed. It will be observed that the piano action, and more especially the back check carrying lever is so arranged that a space is provided beneath said carrying lever and rearward of the key A within which to zontal rows, and it will be noted that this usual practice need not be departed from, in the practical embodiment of the present invention, as there is room for two horizontal rows of power pneumatics above the level of the bottoms of the keys and for a third row, if necessary, or desired, between the plane of the lower surface X, of the key bed and the second row, as indicated in dotted outline. Therefore, while the invention is not restricted to a particular arrangement which involves the use of a plurality of horizontal rows of power pneumatics above the plane of the bottoms of the keys, as well as rearward of said keys, the practicability of so arranging the pneumatics, and also of arranging a third row between said plane and the level of the rail in a grand piano case of standard size has been exemplified: and in any event it will be seen that the parts are so correlated and combined that a substantial number of pneumatics may be disposed rearward of the ke;Y bed and above the plane of the bottoms of the keys with corresponding benefits with respect to the appearance of the piano and without detriment in respect of the musical effects obtained.

It will be understood that the invention is not restricted to the particular detail embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawing, but may be otherwise embodied without departing from its spirit as defined within the appended claims. It will be understood, further, that this detail embodiment is a most practicable one for accomplishing the several purposes in view and for .this reason is preferred.

Having thus described the invention what I believe to be new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a player grand piano, the combination with a key pivoted between its ends and provided with an element fixed to it at a place rearward of its pivot, a pneumatic rearward of the key and above the plane of the lower surface of the latter and provided with an element to transmit power, a wippen pivoted to a fixed support and contacting with the projection from the key to receive motion therefrom when the piano is being played manually and free to move with relation to said projection when the piano is played under control of a record a hammere connections between tbe` hammer and wippen, a back check3 a carrying: lever therefor, pivoted to a. xed support and arranged above tlie plane of the upper surface of the key and in a spaced relation to said key? a connection between said carrying; lever and tlie wippen, and an abutment on the power transmitting' element in position for directly operating` tbe lever.

2. In a player grand piano, the combination with a key pivoted between its ends, a piano action comprising a wippen7 connections between the key and the wippen for operating the latter from tlie former7 the action comprising also a lever above tlie key and having a connection from the lever to the wippen, and a pneumatic having a direct contacting abutment in position to operate tlie lever. tlie pneumatic beingabove the level ot the key bed bottom.

ln a player grand piano the combina-- tion witli a key pivoted between its ends a piano action comprising a wippen, connections between tbe key and tlie wippen, for operating tbe latter from the former. tbe action also comprising` a lever above tlie key and having' a connection between tlie lever and wippen and a pneumatic having` a direct contacting abutment in position 'for operating` tbe lever and havingy its movable part in a plane substantially parallel to tbe planev of the lever.

In testimony wliereot I affix my signature.

MARTIN NICKELS. 

